Leicester s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel lifts the trophy as Leicester City celebrate becoming the English Premier League soccer champions at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Saturday, May 7, 2016.

Kevin Doyle (9) of Colorado Rapids takes breather against Sporting Kansas City during the second half of the Rapids' 1-0 win. The Colorado Rapids hosted Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, May 11, 2016.

That’s why Leicester City’s improbable run to the English Premier League title — surpassing behemoth Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea — captivated the soccer world. They were, after all, a 5,000-1 longshot to win the league championship after narrowly avoiding relegation a year before.

There is no relegation in Major League Soccer — good thing for the Rapids, who finished last in the Western Conference in 2015. With a Supporters’ Shield-leading 7-2-3 record this year, the Rapids are a dozen games into an unlikely underdog story of their own.

The turnaround has prompted some to dub the Rapids the “Leicester City of MLS.” But is it a fair juxtaposition?

“Uh, no,” Rapids striker Kevin Doyle said. “We’re only a third of the way through, but what we’re doing is not in comparison.”

The 32-year-old Irish international, who played more than 300 games of professional English soccer before joining Colorado last season, said what the Rapids are doing can’t compare because of the parity that exists in MLS.

“There’s not that big a gulf between the bottom of the MLS and the top, for the strict budget rules and the strict wage-cut rules and all that,” Doyle said.

Unlike the Premier League, MLS is set up to provide parity, giving bottom teams priority in drafts and player allocation mechanisms. Teams that fail to make the playoffs also benefit from additional roster funds.

Doyle credited the Rapids’ fitness, organization and offseason signings for their turnaround.

“There’s nothing magical or whatever about it compared to Leicester’s (season), which is completely magical and freaky,” Doyle said. “But I suppose if you’re looking at it and you don’t know much from the outside, that would be your opinion.”

Las Vegas oddsmakers had the Rapids as 50-1 longshots to win the MLS Cup before the season. Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni said the Leicester City comparison spawns from people’s expectations for the Rapids. His team, he insisted, isn’t worried about external perceptions.

“I could see how from the outside it appears that way, given our last couple years of not making the playoffs,” Mastroeni said. “All this stuff is out of our control. Our only focus is on making sure we get better with every performance.”

Doyle said the closest comparison he could draw from his career in England to what the Rapids are doing this year came in his first season at Reading FC, in 2005-06. The club had only 12 players the first two weeks of preseason and oddsmakers said they were likely to be relegated from the Championship — the second tier of English soccer — but ended up winning the league, setting a record for points in a season (106) and getting promoted to the Premier League.

“Only got beat twice the whole season; 46 games only got beat twice,” Doyle said. “So, I suppose in comparison that’d be as close I’ve come to in my career, but again we’re only 12 games in. We’re nowhere yet. We’ve got a long way to go.”

More in Sports

Broncos general manager John Elway was reminded of the nice weather, of the fun memories he had some 13 miles west in Palo Alto in college and of course the ones he experienced here in Santa Clara back in 2016.

A tangled mess at Coors Field unraveled early Thursday afternoon as rookie right-hander Jeff Hoffman craned his neck to see home run after home run leave the yard. Before the end, it devolved into a dilemma.